PACP Committee Report

Mr. David Christopherson
Chair, Standing Committee on Public Accounts
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6

Dear Mr. Christopherson:

Pursuant to House of Commons Standing Order 109, on behalf of the Government of Canada, I am pleased to provide the Government’s Response to the recommendations of the Fourth Report of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Accounts concerning Chapter 2, (Access to Online Services) of the Fall 2013 Report of the Auditor General of Canada.

I appreciate the important work undertaken by you and the Standing Committee to study the Auditor General’s findings on access to Government of Canada online services.

As stated in Budgets 2012 and 2013, the Government of Canada is committed to standardizing, consolidating and transforming the way it does business in order to improve service delivery and achieve efficiencies. Initiatives such as the Digital Canada 150 Strategy, Destination 2020, Open Government, Web Renewal and Red Tape Reduction reinforce the Government of Canada’s commitment to provide Canadians and businesses with simpler and quicker access to online information and services that are user-friendly, accessible, convenient and secure.

With respect to Recommendation 1, the Government agrees that the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat and Employment and Social Development Canada, through Service Canada, will provide the Committee with a government-wide service strategy by March 2015.

With respect to Recommendation 2, the Government agrees that Employment and Social Development Canada, Industry Canada and Veterans Affairs Canada will provide the Committee with an overview of their integrated strategies and plans for service delivery. These strategies and plans will be provided to the Committee by the end of the 2015-2016 fiscal year as they become available.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you and the members of the Standing Committee again for your work.

Yours sincerely,

The Honourable Tony Clement, P.C., M.P.